


Fanning the Flames

by Beryll (Rynthjan)



Series: Sir Yaden [14]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Aliens, F/M, Psychics, Slavery, Violence, phoenix empire
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-06
Updated: 2015-05-11
Packaged: 2018-03-21 14:11:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 13,376
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3695306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rynthjan/pseuds/Beryll
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An anonymous message warns the Phoenix Tower of a collaborator among the empire's nobility. One who works with the dreaded N'Bosoti. An accusation which must be investigated. Carefully.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to memprime for beta!

"…it's just, it feels odd." Ivan grumbled sullenly.

They were walking along the main corridor leading towards the office of the Commander of the Phoenix Knights. It was as busy as usual, with all sorts of employees rushing to and fro. Most of them dodged around Sir Yaden and his squire, but some of them they had to let pass since they were burdened with stacks of stuff so high they could hardly see where they were going.

"It only feels off because we weren't here during the transit period." Yaden answered patiently.

"But… I don't even know what to say to her!" Ivan complained. "Do I congratulate her?"

Yaden shook head at his friend's strange worries. "I thought you already congratulated her at the ceremony?" He asked. "I did."

"Well… yeah… Still." Ivan made an exasperated noise. "Don't you think it's odd?"

"It is a bit odd." Yaden dutifully agreed. "But I'm sure she is much more nervous than you are." He glanced over at Ivan. "Or is that your problem? Are you worried she's not up to the task?"

"No!" Ivan glared back at him. "Of course not! After everything she's seen as Hamilton's second… I'm sure she can handle herself."

"And she was an officer in the original Malachite Guard, too." Yaden added. "I'm mean, seriously, she was dealing with Consort Amadeus on a daily basis. I'm sure she can deal with us pesky Phoenix Knights."

"Yeah." Ivan agreed after a moment. "I guess I'll just miss the old man."

That was one thing Yaden agreed with. Commander Hamilton had survived three Emperors in his position as the Commander of the Phoenix Knights. Originally put on the post after the first succession war when the order was formed, he had stayed on when Emperor Hyperion won the second succession war, and been reaffirmed when first Emperor Gregorius and then Emperor Elisander took the crown. He really deserved his retirement.

He had been there to greet Yaden when he had first arrived on P2 and guided him through his initial training as a Phoenix Knight. To practically everyone at the Tower he had been 'the old man', an unmovable fixture. Still everyone had been aware that he was getting tired and that Li Ma wasn't just his assistant, but that he was training her to replace him.

When Yaden and Ivan had gone missing, that had still been a plan of the distant future. After their return one year later, they had learned that Commander Hamilton's official and much deserved retirement was only a few weeks away.

The ceremony had taken place a few days ago. A spectacular affair, with any noble present who could possibly garner an invitation. The Emperor had held a lengthy speech, thanking the Commander for his unparalleled services to the Empire. Much more importantly though, all Phoenix Knights, those currently in service as well as retired ones, had been present to salute their boss and see him off in style.

Even Lady Tahira Medina had made a public appearance, coming out of her own secret retirement spot. She was one of the last two officially alive members of the original six Phoenix Knights who had been ordained by Emperor Alexander.

She and Sir Rage had told some incredible tales from that time and Yaden had felt like a little boy again, listening to them, and the other, younger Phoenix Knights had felt just the same. To then be asked to share tales of their own adventures had been an honour. Milo had, of course, beaten all of them in that category. His abilities to manipulate shadows to illustrate his stories were a priceless asset. They had all gotten quite thoroughly drunk.

Commander Hamilton had listened and watched like a benevolent grandfather overseeing his exuberant grand and great-grandchildren. It had been obvious how very relieved he was to finally be able to stay home with his wife instead of working around the clock.

"So, do we know what our first job with the new boss will be?" Ivan stirred him from his thoughts.

"Nope, but I bet it will not turn out as expected and you will end up with a severe mana burn." Yaden answered with a grin, which earned him a friendly shoulder shove by his best friend.

They stopped in front of the Commander's office and both of them took a moment to peer and the shiny, new 'Commander Li Ma' sign on the door.

"Okay, I agree. It is odd." Yaden stated and then knocked, before Ivan could launch into another complaint.

Just like Commander Hamilton had always done, Li Ma sat behind the huge desk which was heaped with folders, data chips and crystals. Unlike him, she didn't quite look like she belonged there yet. In fact, she looked rather harried, a few strands of her hair coming undone from their usually perfectly neat knot.

"Oh, you." She greeted them rather unceremoniously.

"Commander." Yaden returned the greeting while Ivan shifted nervously next to him, but chose to remain silent. "You have a mission for us?"

For a moment, the new Commander looked at him like she had no idea what he was talking about, but then she caught herself. "Yes, yes indeed we do." She scanned the chaotic heaps on her desk with a hint of despair. "Where did I put it…," she muttered and started opening various folders only to immediately discard them, making the mess even worse. Yaden and Ivan politely ignored the wait while she searched. "There you are…" She finally found the right file with obvious relief.

"So…" She turned her attention back to Yaden and Ivan, instantly becoming much more professional. "We have received an anonymous warning that a certain Earl Kamal Jehanni has made an alliance with the N'Bosoti and that they are using his estate on Goa to funnel dangerous weapons and artefacts to other human minions of the N'Bosoti."

That there were humans stupid enough to work for the N'Bosoti didn't really surprise Yaden. Human stupidity really knew no bounds when it was paired up with sufficient amounts of greed and Yaden had no doubt the N'Bosoti could be quite convincing when they offered boons. After all, they were one of the ancient, immensely powerful races. That they were also known as 'the ancient evil' and associating with them could only lead to a horrible end was easily ignored, apparently. That they had learned of this alleged collaboration by way of an anonymous warning was new, though.

"Any idea who sent the message?" he asked.

Commander Li Ma shrugged. "It has to be someone inside the household, someone fairly highly placed, or they would not have access to the right information. It might very well be a bid for power, framing the Earl when he had done nothing wrong at all. House Jehanni is well versed in such manoeuvres." Being a Jehanni herself she obviously spoke from experience. "We'll have to be very careful in investigating this. We don't want to step on any toes." She turned a few pages in the folder and then read on with a deepening frown. "The suggestion here is that we insert Ivan undercover as a household slave into the estate so he can observe the Earl and hopefully find out who sent that message while Yaden remains outside and checks for any signs of N'Bosoti activity."

Yaden and Ivan shared a quick glance, neither of them sure why that would make the commander look so displeased.

"Sounds good to me…," Yaden ventured carefully.

Commander Li Ma looked up at both of them with troubled eyes. "Considering your squire's past I'm not sure it is a good idea to let him pose as a slave, much less if he is on his own doing so."

Ivan tensed up immediately. He still was rather easily aggravated whenever anyone thought he was not fully capable of doing something. Now he spoke up before Yaden could say something conciliatory: "I can assure you I am fully able to control myself and pretend to be a good little slave," he commented icily.

The Commander blinked at him in obvious surprise. "No, no, you misunderstand." She than quickly said and raised her hands in a placating gesture. "I am worried for your well being. The mental stress this will put you under…"

Yaden decided this was a moment where he could afford to interrupt his commanding officer. "Ivan is actually a great fit for this role." He said. "If there is anyone who knows how to survive as a slave, it's him."

He could almost feel the gratefulness for his support radiate off Ivan and it seemed to calm him down, too. "Commander, with all due respect," Ivan said, "I am a Phoenix Knight squire precisely to do the unpleasant stuff so other don't have to."

Commander Li Ma looked decidedly unhappy at that reminder and Yaden realized with a smile one big difference between Commander Hamilton and Li Ma: She had some definite mother hen genes and would always make extra sure the risks for her Knights would be as minimal as possible while Hamilton had always assumed that a Phoenix Knight would deal with anything thrown at him. Maybe she would grow into that mind set as well once she observed what kind of absurd shit her Knights faced and survived on a daily basis.

That she was more worried about mental stress put on Ivan than about the fact that they might well face N'Bosoti once more was kind of adorable, really.

"So you really want to do this?" She asked Ivan again.

He shrugged in return. "I'll be fine. It's not like I'll be powerless and Yaden will be nearby should things get really ugly."

"If we do turn up N'Bosoti, are we to engage?" Yaden asked the question that he considered much more important.

The Commander closed the file. "Yes. If you feel confident it is a fight you can win, you are authorized to use any necessary force to destroy any N'Bosoti you might encounter." She said calmly.

It suspiciously sounded like an official order from the Emperor. So their boss had moved the N'Bosoti from vague threat to actual enemy who needed to actively be fought, Yaden noted. The complete lack of any cautioning on keeping collateral damage to a minimum was interesting as well. Yaden still silently vowed that he would always put the lives of innocents potentially caught in the crossfire first.

"Mission prep is waiting for you with your respective outfits." The Commander said, dismissing them from her office. "Good luck." She than added, making both Yaden and Ivan smile.

-

When Yaden left the changing rooms in the mission prep section of the Tower, he couldn't suppress a happy smirk. He was back in his favourite disguise. One that didn't just keep most people from paying much attention to him, it also covered him in his dearest element.

He had made sure to send a quick message to Colin to let him know that this might well take a week or two so he shouldn't wait with dinner, before he got changed. Now he just needed to pick up his squire and they'd be ready to go.

Ivan was already waiting from him, but Yaden probably wouldn't have recognized him if it wasn't for his unique energy signature which was as familiar to Yaden as the back of his own hand by now.

His friend was wearing simple but clean slave garb, a tunic and pants of coarse grey fabric. His hair had been shorn close to his skull and he kept his head down and his shoulders hunched up, making him look much smaller and quite inconsequential. He really looked like nobody at all, which was a feat considering his flamboyant personality.

His demeanour changed instantly when he noticed Yaden, though.

"SMELLY!" He exclaimed with exuberant joy and rushed to hug Yaden close. Then he immediately withdrew two steps. "Ugh. Good lord, I forgot how much you stink…" He groaned.

Yaden grinned at him through the dirty thicket of hair and beard which hid his face most effectively. "Hence the name, my friend." He agreed.

They studied each other for a moment and then nodded, satisfied with each other’s disguises.

"Ready to go?" Yaden asked.

"Ready for another round against them damn dung beetles?" Ivan replied. "Of course."

Together they headed towards the porter platform room.


	2. Chapter 2

Ivan's knowledge about Goa had been rather limited, but he had used the time while he waited for Yaden to finish with mission prep to read up a little bit about the planet.

Before the second succession war it had belonged to House Medina. After the war only the name of the ruling families had changed to Jehanni, and apart from that, it remained a largely unimportant fringe world. It was a large planet, with days and nights that were quite a bit longer than terran standard. Main exports where exotic fruit, fabrics and precious gems.

What the summary had failed to mention was that is was sweltering hot and so humid that everything constantly dripped. The estate of Earl Kamal Jehanni was located in an area covered with light jungle. Tall trees rose from lush green meadows. Everything was covered in moss and flowering liana. The estate itself was located on a hill, overlooking a small town. Houses were built from dark, shiny stone, probably because any wood construction would have quickly rotted away in the climate.

Ivan futilely mopped at the sweat that was running down his neck from beneath the simple leather slave collar he now wore. It never failed to amaze him that he still felt outside heat as unpleasant while at the same time he thoroughly enjoyed wrapping himself in a blazing aura of flames. He'd mastered the art of absorbing the energy of sunlight and even a direct hit with a blaster into his energy pool. Shouldn't it also be possible to absorb ambient heat in the same way? He'd have to talk to Yaden about that.

Right now, he was rather grateful for his shorn hair, although he had been quite annoyed when he had first looked into the mirror after the mission prep team was through with him.

He was standing in the open courtyard at the front of the estate. It consisted of several smaller buildings clustered around a large, central ziggurat-like main house. The central house was overgrown with blooming vines and large-leafed plants. The windows were all glassless and open, allowing ventilation. Small streams of water were running along carefully sculpted, winding paths down the terraces of the ziggurat, probably to provide cooling. It looked rather exotic to Ivan, and quite pretty.

He was with four other slaves. They had just been delivered and were awaiting inspection by the hadonra. All of them were household slaves, well trained, well adjusted and obedient so none of them were chained up, though Ivan was a little surprised how relaxed his fellow slaves seemed. Two of them were even quietly talking, apparently comparing notes on where they had been working before and what they expected from their new master.

Ivan took his cue from them when the hadonra appeared and didn't fall to his knees as would have been expected of any Dracon household slave. Instead they all respectfully lowered their heads and then waited for instructions from the tall, gaunt fellow in billowing yellow silk robes who stood in front of them and studied them carefully.

It was a little surprising how unthreatened Ivan felt. He'd never actually experienced being sold as a slave. As a Dracon pet on Yaiciz he'd just been handed down from one owner to the next, but he was intimately familiar with how powerless and scary it felt to be scrutinized and judged. He'd thought that maybe this situation would trigger his old traumas, but all he felt now was calm curiosity. He was secure in the knowledge that not only he could protect himself from almost anything which might be thrown in his way - he also had survived the worst that could happen and come out on top. He could do that again if he had to. Forged in fire, he thought with a mean little mental smile.

"I am Hadonra Satish," then man in front of introduced himself, "and this is the estate of Earl Kamal Jehanni. You have been purchased to work in his house. You will find that if you work diligently and perform your assigned tasks you will be treated fairly and will have a good life here." He spoke with calm professionalism. He'd probably delivered the same speech countless times.

In any Dracon household Ivan would have considered his words cruel mocking, but from the reactions of his fellow slaves Ivan judged that he was actually genuine.

"You will sleep at the slave dormitories over there." The Hadonra continued his instructions. "You will be assigned your individual positions by taskmaster Thandi." He indicated a rotund, bald man next to him, who wore the same billowing yellow robes, only his were made of some courser fabric than silk. "Meal times for slaves are at sun rise and dusk. You will also be assigned two hours of rest in your work schedule. You are required to spend this time actually resting. Work days are long and we do not wish to ruin our investment in you by overworking you. If there are any questions, you may address them to Master Thandi."

The new slaves bowed again and the hadonra headed back inside the main house.

"All right." The taskmaster smiled at them jovially, looking more like a fat but benevolent uncle than an overseer. "Let's get you settled in, shall we? Please do ask if you have any questions, yes? We consider ourselves a big family here."

Ivan barely kept himself from snorting. He wasn't willing to believe all this happy welcome crap. There had to be some catch. Maybe they fed their excess slaves to the N'Bosoti in some weird, bloody ritual. Luckily, his job was to watch and listen so he was sure he'd find out soon enough.

-

Three days later, Ivan still had found neither the catch nor any proof of N'Bosoti activity. The slaves of the estate were well adjusted and reasonably happy. Of course there were the usual problems that any large group of people living in close quarters would have. But that was mostly personal drama the slaves themselves generated, not outside cruelty of their masters. That they felt secure enough to do this was confusing to Ivan. In any Dracon household slaves would be much too busy being scared out of their minds.

Since Ivan was young and fit, he had been assigned duties as what he mentally dubbed a beast of burden. He was sent all over the place carrying various stuff from point A to point B. It was hard work, but it also allowed him access all over the estate.

So far, the only interesting thing he had discovered was that Jehanni inheritance rules were complete garbage. As far as he could piece together, the title and estate had originally belonged to the wife of Earl Kamal. She had died in childbirth. Now the Earl held the title until his daughter married, at which point she and the estate and title would become the property of her new husband. If the Earl chose to marry again himself, he would immediately lose the title and it would revert to the extended family of his late wife until the daughter could be married off at which point once again the new husband would become Earl. The whole thing made no sense to Ivan. Who'd come up with such convoluted ideas? Suddenly 'the one who survives inherits' sounded much better.

He'd managed to get a few glimpses at Earl Kamal. The man was in his late forties, but still fit and healthy. Deeply tanned with long, oiled back tresses and wearing elaborately embroidered robes, he looked exactly like a Medina turned Jehanni would have been portrayed in 'Even Nobles Cry'. When Ivan had seen him he had been visiting the Ghungu stables - large, thick skinned mammals which were raised as riding beasts at the estate. He'd talked to the stable master amiably and exuded an air of benevolent noblesse. Not really the kind of person one would expect to collaborate with insanely evil ancient bug monsters.

The daughter, Lady Kumari, had so far eluded him. Her quarters were located at the top of the ziggurat building and while she didn't seem to be confined to them like some Jehanni women, she rarely left them. From the abundant gossip among the slaves Ivan had learned that she was very pretty, well educated by private tutors her father had hired and had a mean temper. Maybe it wasn't the Earl but his daughter who was conspiring with the N'Bosoti. After all, they seemed to have a taste for young noble women, judging from their interest in his sister Anita. Considering this girl would be married off like a prized cow to some dude who would then rule her life, Ivan could see why she might be looking for an escape.

She was on Ivan's to do list for today.

He had swapped his afternoon tasks with another burden slave who was looking for a chance to flirt with his girl working in the kitchen. So Ivan would be hauling cleaned laundry up to the higher ziggurat tiers instead of fresh produce from the estate's gardens to the store rooms near the kitchen. That obviously meant a lot of stairs to climb repeatedly, but it was a price he was willing to pay for the convenient cover that would allow him to snoop around the noble family's private quarters.

The slave he had swapped with had carefully explained the layout of the rooms, so he knew exactly where he needed to go to deliver his loads. He had brought up the Earl's laundry first and used the access to the man's quarters to extend his senses and look for that telltale clinically scrubbed empty feeling the presence of N'Bosoti left behind. He hadn't found anything, but that might just mean that the Earl was meeting with his alien allies elsewhere.

Now he was making his third trip up the many steps of the Ziggurat with a huge basket of Princess Kumari's colourful robes. Considering how light the fabrics themselves were, a whole basket of them was crushingly heavy. At least he was inside the Ziggurat, which remained pleasantly cool even in the sweltering climate of Goa's afternoon.

The princess' quarters were at the very top, surrounded by lush gardens on the terraces of the building. Ivan kept his head down and headed straight for the large, walk-in wardrobe that had been described to him. He was presenting the perfect picture of a slave just doing his job with every right to be there while keeping his ears and eyes open for any hint of the room's owner.

He didn't have to look far. Princess Kumari was currently sitting in front of a large mirror and was getting her hip long sea of wavy black hair brushed by a cute slave girl. She was reading in a small book. Ivan caught a caught a glimpse of her frowning face in the mirror. The rumours were quite true - she was a beautiful girl with dark, almond shaped eyes in an oval face. Even sitting, she managed to look slim and curvy at the same time. Currently she was wearing a light, silken sari, dyed in a cascade of blues that grew lighter from top to bottom. A heap of jewellery was lying on a silver platter nearby, waiting to be put on her.

She looked bored and spoiled in equal parts to Ivan.

He didn't linger and neatly deposited the basket of laundry on the floor of the wardrobe, so the slave girl would be able to put them away properly. He kept his senses wide open, but didn't get any hint of N'Bosoti here either.

When he crossed the room where the princess was sitting again, she suddenly yelped in pain.

"Ouwh!! Maya! You clumsy oaf! Are you trying to tear out the last of my hair?!" she complained angrily.

The slave girl flinched. "I am sorry, mistress." She immediately apologized, but she also bravely raised the brush to continue her work.

"No! You have done enough damage today! Go and find a task which suits your lack of finesse!" Princess Kumari hissed with an imperious wave of her hand. "You!" She caught sight of Ivan in the mirror. "You there, slave. Come here! You will continue. "

For one long moment Ivan felt frozen in time like a fly stuck in honey. A hundred memories were rushing through his mind, triggered by the choice of words, by the simple but terrible moment of being noticed by your master. Then he caught himself, and with a blink and a slow breath he was back in the present. She had no power over him and neither had his past.

Ducking his head, he quickly made his way over to her, accepting the brush from the slave girl who looked more exasperated then scared of her mistress. Maybe she was just having a bad day, then. It still was a great opportunity to remain close to her and observe her for a while.

The obvious problem was that he had never brushed anyone's hair but his own. And he certainly wasn't equipped with such a long, silky mane. He carefully ran his fingers through them first to get a sense of how much of the work had already been done by the slave girl, while she quietly slipped out. Then he tentatively put a first stroke of the brush. The princess watched him closely in the mirror. Ivan wondered how she expected a burden slave to do better than her trained maid. What a silly girl she was.

"So you are Sir Yaden's squire." She said, completely throwing him off.

He nearly dropped the brush.

She smirked at him in the mirror, her eyes suddenly sparkling with mirth and intellect. "About time you found an excuse to come up here. You've been here… what… two days…?"

"How do you…?" Ivan asked stupidly, but even while the words came out of his mouth he already put it together. "You sent that message."

"I did." She confirmed, turning serious. "I was waiting and hoping for some Phoenix Knight to show up here. So of course I recognized you."

Ivan tried to quickly integrate this new information with the little he had discovered so far. With no evidence of any N'Bosoti activity it still was a distinct possibility that she had just contacted the Phoenix Knight Tower to implicate her father and possibly get rid of him. Would that gain her power over the estate until she was married? With these complex inheritance rules, Ivan wasn't sure. What did she have to gain? She didn't seem stupid and that meant she couldn't possibly believe that she would be able to prove her father's treason without any actual N'Bosoti.

"Are these rooms secure to talk freely?" He asked, trying to gauge how well prepared she was.

She nodded. "Yes. My father believes me nothing but a pretty commodity, but I sweep them for surveillance nonetheless." She turned around to face him. "So? What are you going to do about those monsters?"

Time to face her with the current facts. "I have found no evidence of N'Bosoti." Ivan stated calmly, closely watching her face for her reaction.

"That's because you probably didn't look in the right place." She answered, unfazed by his unspoken accusation. "They meet with my father in the estate's abandoned chapel."

Ivan hadn't heard of such a building so far, but that didn't mean there wasn't one. It was somewhat unusual that such a large estate didn't have a resident priest who would act as a confessor for the nobles and commoner servants. It was a fact that hadn't stood out to Ivan yet, but now that it was mentioned, he filed it away for further investigation.

"And how do you know about this?" He asked.

"I go to the chapel to pray occasionally." She answered his question. "My father doesn't approve, so I go in secret. So I was there, once, when they met."

A visible shudder ran through the princess and Ivan caught the motion of her arms, like she was going to wrap them around herself protectively, before she caught herself and regained her composure. She was acting tough, but she was deeply unsettled and probably very scared. Suddenly Ivan didn't doubt her truthfulness at all anymore.

"I hid behind the altar. I thought they hadn't noticed me. It was my father and one of them. They spoke of shipments of weapons and artefacts. Then it suddenly turned to the altar and told me to come out. I think it knew the whole time I was there. My father was furious, but it seemed more… amused. It looked at me… It's…"

She was shaking and Ivan quickly reached out, taking her hand in his. He knew intimately what it felt like to face an N'Bosoti. They were the ancient evil that any human would instinctively fear. That she was even able to speak of it showed what a courageous young woman she had to be. She clung to his hand like she was trying to pull herself out of the memory, but she also continued speaking.

"My father told it I was no threat, that I was just a silly girl. I think he thought it was going to kill me. It agreed with my father, but… I don't know how to describe this… It looked at me with such hunger… like it had plans for me…" She looked at Ivan with a mix of panic and deep conviction. "I knew I had to do something. So I sent that message."

Her eyes were begging him for some sort of reassurance. Ivan smiled at her. "You did the right thing." He said, trying to sound as calm as Yaden always did. "We'll find out what they are doing, and then we'll kill that fucking bug."


	3. Chapter 3

Ivan curiously studied the colourful stalls of the marketplace. It was the first time he got a chance to visit the town which lay close to the estate. The buildings of black stone could have given it an oppressive, sinister look if it hadn't been for the brightly coloured yellow, orange and red panels of fabric, which served as curtains, shades and general decoration everywhere.

They were the main sources of income of the town, too. The vines and liana which hung in thick bundles from the jungle trees were harvested, processed into fibre and then woven to fabrics of various qualities. The bright dyes were made from local plants as well.

Apparently it was good business. Ivan noticed many well-off commoners browsing the market stalls and shopping without counting their coins. They wore robes and sari of the same bright fabrics and overall, the riot of colour gave the place quite the cheerful look.

A huge variety of fresh fruit was on sale as well, filling the marketplace with a sweet tang and making Ivan's mouth water. He'd had a weakness for fruits of all kinds since he had fully tapped into his psychic abilities. Back then, Darren had given him a lengthy explanation why his body reacted that way, but he hadn't understood half of it.

"Slave!" Kumari's voice tore him from his observations and thoughts. "I will not risk a sun burn because you are too lazy to keep up!"

Ducking his head, Ivan quickly closed the gap between them and dutifully held the parasol he was carrying for her over her head again.

She glared at him for a moment and then hit him over the head with her fan. "Stupid!" She admonished before she turned back to the stall she was standing in front of.

It was stocked with delicately carved pieces of bright blue stone. Small birds, squirrel-like creatures, but also ghungu and some sort of predatory lizard with lots of teeth. Truly beautiful craftsmanship, Ivan thought. If one didn't live and train with a stone-shaper who would be able to replicate any of this and much better in a matter of minutes.

Said stone-shaper was the reason they were in the market today. They had agreed before they started on the mission that Yaden would be in the marketplace for a few hours every morning so Ivan would be able to get in contact if he needed to. Accompanying Kumari was a perfect excuse to get to the market.

After their first talk, Princess Kumari had requested Ivan as her personal slave, throwing a very convincing temper tantrum in which she complained long and loud about the failures of her slave girl Maya.

Ivan had been surprised when no one even so much as frowned at the fact that the precious princess of the house was claiming a male slave as her body servant. Customs in Goa's Medina derived Jehanni houses were quite lax compared to what Jehanni customs were like elsewhere. The fact that slaves were treated as trusted servants probably played a part as well. With the fake history which Ivan had arrived with, nobody would expect him to touch the princess in any way he shouldn't.

Which wasn't quite that easy when he was the one who constantly did get to touch her when he brushed her hair, dressed and undressed her and generally was close to her. He enjoyed casual sex with Yaden a lot, but he'd never before had his body react of his own to the proximity of a woman. It was distracting and annoying. She even smelled good.

On top of that she didn't seem to be such a bad mistress when she wasn't actively pretending to be one. After she had kicked out Maya, Ivan had sought out the slave girl in the evening to see how she was coping. The girl had been honestly distraught and confused by her sudden dismissal. She seemed to genuinely like Kumari and was deeply worried about what she had done wrong. Since he couldn't tell her the truth, Ivan had tried to reassure her that it probably was just a phase and that she would grow tired of his clumsiness soon enough and call Maya back.

Maya had smiled bravely, asked him not to judge her mistress too harshly and to take good care of her. If the princess inspired such loyalty she couldn't be that bad.

Ivan had checked out the abandoned chapel to see if she had spoken the truth. The small building was located in a remote part of the estate's gardens. It was almost completely overgrown with vines and parts of the roof had collapsed. It had been deserted when Ivan visited it midday, when activity at the estate slowed to an absolute minimum. It taken him a few minutes, but then he had detected that faint sense of scrubbed-clean nothingness. He couldn't tell whether it came from the presence of an actual N'Bosoti or was just a trace of one of their artefacts, but it was definitely there.

Of course that didn't quite prove Kumari's words. She could have been the one who met with the monsters instead of her father, maybe to lay a clever trap for whatever Phoenix Knight would answer her call.

He had to repeatedly remind himself that he couldn't afford to blindly trust her. It was fucking hard, though. She was pretty, clever and had a somewhat mean sense of humour. All qualities Ivan found annoyingly appealing.

This time, he paid enough attention to notice when she moved on from the stall and he followed in her wake, keeping the parasol above her head.

At the same time he scanned the market for Yaden. He hadn't told Kumari exactly who they were looking for, just that he needed to get to the market to deliver news of what he had learned to his knight. He was curious to see if she would recognize Yaden in his disguise as easily as she had recognized him.

It didn't take him long to spot his friend. The dirty, rag-clad beggar who sat next to a large garbage heap was easily overlooked. Which was exactly what Ivan had been searching for. Their eyes met and Ivan quickly pointed his head to the side of the market so they would be able to meet there, unobserved.

Kumari headed for a large open café which had several low tables under colourful cloth roofs. The proprietor immediately appeared to greet her and offer her the best available space. After all, she was the second highest ranking noble around town. She accepted his offer with graceful if detached politeness. Ivan could see that his grovelling annoyed her.

"Go and buy some of the sweet seed cakes for later." She ordered Ivan, handing him a few coins. That was what they had agreed upon beforehand, so he would be able to meet with Yaden. He left the unwieldy parasol with her and headed back out between the stalls.

It didn't take him long to cross over to the side of the market and duck into a narrow alley where he had sent Yaden. His friend was leaning against the wall, chewing on some sort of grizzle and spreading fat unevenly all over his beard and rags. He truly was a master at appearing disgusting, Ivan thought with a grin, remembering how he had first met Yaden on Bora Bora.

"You are so lucky Colin can't see you now." Ivan greeted his friend.

Yellowed teeth became visible for a moment when Yaden grinned at him. "That I am." He took a moment to study Ivan. "All good on your end?"

Ivan nodded and quickly gave Yaden an update of what he had learned.

Yaden harrumphed. "I've scanned the surrounding area, but I haven't found anything yet. I'll widen my search radius, they have to be hiding their merchandize somewhere."

"I've asked Kumari about that, but she had no idea where her father is storing the goods." Ivan said. "What do I do now? Do I just watch and wait?" Ivan then asked, not quite satisfied and with leaving all the work to Yaden.

"No." Yaden answered. "If the Earl is really our man, we should try to gather some evidence against him. He might be keeping records of his sales. That might also give us a clue who the buyers are. We'll want to track them down as well. Do you think you can break into his office and check his files?"

Ivan considered his options for a moment. With Kumari's help - either to distract her father or to help him with an actual break in - it should be possible. "I'll see what I can do."

"Also keep your eyes and ears open should there be another meeting." Yaden added. "But don't get too close. We don't want to spook them too early. Ideally I want to know where their cache is located and then hit that N'Bosoti as hard and fast as we can. Otherwise, we run the risk of it blowing up this whole province. And it really is time we managed to take out one of those freaking bugs."

That, Ivan agreed with whole heartedly. The memory of their one personal encounter with one of the monsters still rankled. He was itching for a rematch after all the things he had learned since then. He wanted to know whether he was good enough to kill one of them. It would silence that nagging voice in the back of his mind that kept telling him they were unbeatable and that all he could ever do was cower in fear.

"Do you trust the princess?" Yaden asked.

A valid question. Ivan shrugged. "I try not to, but it's getting increasingly hard. I am sure her fear of the N'Bosoti is genuine. Could still be they are using her in some way."

Yaden curiously cocked his head and then the yellow teeth appeared once more in the thicket of his beard as he grinned. "You like her." He stated.

Ivan felt his ears burn as he blushed. But if there was one person in the universe he trusted with his feelings, it was Yaden. "I guess," he said. "I know it's kind of weird."

"I don't think it's weird at all." Yaden answered. "Actually, I think it's great. It's good to see that you are opening up to someone."

Ivan wanted to disagree, but when he thought about it Yaden was right. He didn't trust easily. Really their little family on the island were the only people he felt comfortable with. So maybe Yaden was right - like he was most of the time anyway.

"I'm sure it helps that she is rather pretty." Yaden added with a smirk.

"You think so?"

Ivan couldn't help but smile when he though of Kumari standing in front of the full length mirror in her bedroom, naked and all athletic limbs and curves under almond coloured skin, with her hair cascading down her back in black waves. How was she able to completely ignore the fact that a healthy young man was watching her and dying a slow, agonizing death while pretending that he was entirely unfazed?

"Well, she isn't really my type. My ideal girl would be blond, petite and cuttingly smart. But she IS pretty." Yaden said.

A snarky comment went through Ivan's mind, about how he'd thought Yaden was more into furry alien females, but he quickly squashed it. That was a joke he would never make. Instead he felt the urge to reach out and hug his friend, to reassure Yaden that he would never betray him.

He sighed deeply. "She might be doing it on purpose." He suggested without much conviction.

Yaden laughed. "So? Enjoy it while it lasts."

Yes, still annoyingly right as always, Ivan thought and joined in Yaden's laughter. "As you command, my knight." He gave a perfect courtly bow to the filthy beggar. "Now, if you'll excuse me, there is a parasol which needs carrying."

Yaden waved him off with a not quite perfect imperious gesture. He'd never make a good noble, Ivan thought with deep fondness.

Then he headed back through the market, picking up the seed cakes on the way. Princess Kumari was still sitting in the café where he had left her, now picking pieces of iced fruit from a large tray on her table. She looked very bored and for a moment her face lit up with a smile when she noticed him approaching. Then she quickly schooled her features to bored annoyance.

"That took you forever." She admonished. "Did you get what we came for?"

Ivan dutifully ducked his head and held out the box with the seed cakes. "Yes, mistress."

That was of course not what she had really been asking about and his answer didn't refer to the pastries either. He took a place kneeling behind her. It deeply amused him how easily he mastered the role of a perfectly obedient slave when he had fought every single one of his masters with tooth and claw while he had been a pet. Playing the part was so much easier than living it.

Kumari continued picking at the fruit and sipping iced tea for a little while longer. Then she waved over the proprietor again who refused her payment of his services and sent her on her way with his best wishes, prayers, and a deluge of overblown compliments that made Ivan cringe. Kumari looked like she was about to scratch the man's face off and the imbecile didn't notice at all.

Once more holding the parasol over her head, they left the market at a brisk pace. With a small smile, Ivan wondered whether the princess just wanted to escape the afternoon heat or whether it was burning curiosity of what Ivan had learned from his knight that quickened her steps. She kept her head held high, but he could have sworn that she threw small glances his way when she thought he wasn't looking.


	4. Chapter 4

"You are letting me come with you?"

Ivan turned to princess Kumari, startled at her surprised tone. She was looking at him like he had just promised her a blue ghungu that would carry her to heaven.

"Well, yes…" He ventured cautiously. Maybe there was something he had overlooked here. "I was hoping you would come and help. It will be much faster with two people searching your father's files. Or one of us can stand guard. It just makes sense…"

"Of course." A brilliant smile lit Kumari's face. "It's just… I've spent all afternoon memorizing the arguments I wanted to use to convince you to let me help…" Her smile turned softer and Ivan felt a part of his heart melt at her happiness. "Thank you."

Maybe she wasn't as thoroughly locked away as many other noble Jehanni girls, but for a young woman as smart and active as her, it still had to be torture to be kept from anything remotely adventurous. Of course she had expected him to be like all the men in her life and try to keep her safe and sound. In hindsight, Ivan was slightly surprised that the thought hadn't even crossed his mind. He saw her as strong, courageous and clever - to him, it was only logical to ask for her aid.

He watched as she quickly wound her long hair into a messy but functional braid and secured the long sleeves of her robe with a few clips.

"Ready." She announced with another smile and a sparkle in her eyes.

It was well past sunset and the estate lay mostly quiet. At the lowest tier of the ziggurat, lights were still burning where the kitchen staff was completing their after dinner clean ups. Most other people had withdrawn to their private rooms after the long day and were either already asleep or well on their way to bed.

Kumari had dined alone, like she did most evenings. Her father seldom showed any interest in her. Since Ivan had become her personal slave, she had invited him to share her meals. Not in food since the lavish dishes she was served were measured to keep one person slim, but in sitting with her and telling her of the places he had seen, people he had met, things he had done.

At first, it was him talking and her listening, like she was training to get as much of the outside world as she could out of him. But then, she started telling him of things she had studied, how she knew so much about how to run the estate and about politics and how much it rankled to have her skills ignored by her father. Like she was trying to be friends. Ivan had no idea why she would do that. She knew as well as he did that even under the best circumstances, he would be gone after this mission was completed. And even though he was a Phoenix Knight squire, he was also a slave. How could a princess be friends with a slave?

Apparently she didn't care. So Ivan tried not to, either.

"Let's go." He said and opened the door of her suite for her with a mockingly gallant bow.

She playfully swatted him when she slipped past him.

Together, they crept down the stairs. Her father's quarters were on the floor beneath hers. They had debated whether to use the stairs or climb down from the outside. The deciding factor had been that the Earl's office was located close to the stairs and they would have had to pass near his bed chamber if they entered from outside.

The stairwell was lit with muted yellow lights from fake lantern. They looked like they were lit by candles inside, but really they were electric lights. Most of the appliances in the ziggurat were that way - looking old-fashioned and traditional when they were really quite modern.

They didn't have to fear any guards sneaking up on them. The estate had only very few guards at all and they were only patrolling the grounds, not the ziggurat. Since the slaves were trustworthy and there wasn't any outside threat, there really was no need for armed forces. Anyone visiting the estate would be presented with a peaceful, harmonic household. Certainly not a place where anyone would expect to find a traitor to humanity plotting with evil monsters. A perfect cover, really.

Earl Kamal's quarters were mostly dark. The only light still on was in his bedchamber. The Earl liked to stay up late and watch imported trideo action movies. Ivan and Kumari had decided to sneak into his office while he was busy with his noisy entertainment. In the complete quiet when he was asleep, any sound they made might have woken him. This way they had the cover of shouting, shooting and occasional explosions.

The office was dark as well, but Kumari had secured small flashlights for both of them.

Ivan breathed a small sigh of relief when he checked the first file cabinet and found it unlocked. He quickly started thumbing through the folders, looking for anything related to sales or shipping. After all, the Earl had to somehow get his elicit merchandize to his buyers. A quick glance showed him that Kumari was checking the desk, trying various drawers and feeling for hidden compartments.

Her guess had been that her father would be hiding the files on his illegal activities right between the legal ones. According to her, he was useless when it came to organizing his paperwork and she didn't believe he would be capable of maintaining a separate set.

Still, it wouldn't hurt to look for hidden documents.

Speed reading wasn't really Ivan's strong suite, but since he just had to scan for key words, he made good progress.

"Oh." Kumari suddenly whispered surprised.

She was crouching half under the desk and as Ivan turned to her, she withdrew a slim book from somewhere beneath the desk. Ivan quickly joined her as she opened it, shining her flashlight at the pages. It looked to be quite old, bound in cracking leather with the pages yellowed. The first page showed a complex symbol which Ivan didn't recognize.

"I knew it!" Kumari hissed angrily.

"What is it?" Ivan asked.

"Remember I told you that my father has let the chapel fall to ruin and that he never felt the need to hire a confessor for the estate?"

Ivan nodded.

"Well, officially he never speaks about this, but I've heard him rant about how the church has no right to control what we believe in and how our House has lost so much power because we abandoned the old ways." She held up the book. "This is the old way. Worship of our ancestors, taming and controlling spirits of nature. Blood magic."

Ivan blinked at her. "I don't know about ancestor worship and spirits, but blood magic is bad, bad stuff. It attracts demons."

"He's an idiot." Kumari growled. "I bet the N'Bosoti promised him not just power but also a return to this…"

She looked like she was going to work herself into a rant. But she was cut short when they suddenly heard the sound from the bedchamber become much louder, which could only mean that the door had been opened.

"Shit." Ivan whispered, scanning the room for a hiding place.

Kumari spotted their chance faster than he did. Ivan felt himself grabbed by his wrist and pulled towards the huge divan that dominated one wall. Ivan hadn't noticed, but it wasn't pushed all the way to the wall, there was a narrow space to hide in. They both tumbled into it, turning off their flashlights. Ivan tried not to breathe in deeply as Kumari came to rest on top of him, tightly crushed against him.

For a moment, they remained in darkness, but then the overhead light was turned on and they heard Earl Kamal grumble: "Damn, where did I put it…" as he entered the room.

Ivan had no choice but to look into Kumari's eyes as they were lying nose to nose. Her body felt warm and firm against his, her breasts pressed against his chest. His arms wrapped around her a little tighter all by themselves and he barely managed to fight down the urge to move against her just a little bit. The bright light made it even worse and he felt heat rise in his face. Kumari in turn blinked at him a little owlishly in the sudden light. Ivan prayed she wouldn't notice how strongly his body was reacting to hers. He closed his eyes, trying to will down his growing erection.

They listened to the Earl walk over to his desk and start rummaging through the files on it. With silent dread, Ivan realized that the filing cabinet he had been searching was still open. If the Earl noticed, he would surely grow suspicious.

He was distracted from that thought when Kumari shifted on top of him to find a more comfortable position. In the process she rubbed against him in all the right ways. He wanted to hiss at her to stop, but of course he had to remain silent, so he instead opened his eyes again to glare at her.

Kumari was looking at him with a small smirk that could only be called naughty, her eyes sparkling with forbidden thoughts.

She was doing it on purpose, Ivan realized with a mix of outrage, horror and sudden, consuming desire. While his mind still scrambled to supply him with all the perfectly valid reasons since was a very, very bad idea, he was already pulling her even closer against him.

He watched as Kumari's eyes turned from mirthful to clouded with desire of her own. Before he had time to listen to all of his own objections, she closed the inch that separated their lips.

She tasted heavenly, sweet and intoxicating, with a hint of the spices which had been in her dinner. They both somehow managed to remain utterly silent while drinking each others breath, locked in the most consuming kiss Ivan had ever shared with anyone.

"There you are." Earl Kamal exclaimed happily.

Their lips still sealed against each other, Ivan and Kumari listened as the Earl in passing pushed close the filing cabinet, turned out the lights and left the room. Only when they heard the bedroom door close, the sounds from within muffled once more, did they separate with a gasp.

Now Ivan longed for the light, to be able to read Kumari's expression. But then he didn't need it as she snuggled up against him, her face buried against his neck.

"Thank you." She whispered breathlessly.

Ivan wasn't quite sure what she was thanking him for, but he accepted the luxury of being allowed to press his nose against her hair and inhale deeply, to treasure this moment while it lasted. Then she pushed up against his embrace and he let go of her.

"Right, let's find some evidence, shall we." She said and turned her flashlight back on. She still looked a little dishevelled, but she was rapidly regaining her composure as she climbed out from behind the divan.

"You should put the book back." Ivan suggested when he noticed she was still clutching it. "Wouldn't be good if he noticed it missing."

She nodded and headed back to the desk. Ivan used the opportunity of her turned back to adjust his simple slave pants to hide his hard on as well as possible. Silently he cursed his traitorous body for refusing to quiet down, now that Kumari wasn't pressed against him anymore. Kissing her at all had been stupid, but cuddle time was over and he had a mission to fulfil. He refused to listen to that warning voice in the back of his head which tried to tell him that it wasn't just his body that was reacting to her. It wouldn't be a problem, he told himself firmly. He'd complete the mission, kill a bug and then he'd be gone.

He went back to the filing cabinet and continued his search, joined by Kumari after she had finished with the desk. It took them another fifteen minutes, but finally they discovered what they were looking for. Neatly filed with the rest of the shipping logs, there were records of unspecified crates being transported off world to various destinations.

Ivan carefully wrote down all the recipients to pass the information on to Yaden. The Tower and the IIS would be keen on checking out every single one of them.

They slipped out of the office and made it back to Kumari's rooms without any more trouble.

Since Kumari made no mention of their kiss, Ivan followed suit. He helped her undress like he did every night since he had become her body slave, grateful that his body remained calm.

Only when he was lying on his sleeping mat in the small room next to hers, sure that she was asleep, did he allow his hand to sneak into his pants for a quick jerk off.


	5. Chapter 5

Part 5

The next few days were strangely quiet.

Kumari spent them with what she apparently always did - reading and preserving her prettiness. It made Ivan realize more and more how very much she had to be bored out of her mind.

Ivan fulfilled his duties as her body slave - which often enough consisted of quietly sitting in a corner and waiting for her to need something, neither of them mentioning the kiss again. At first there was an awkward silence between them, but then they settled back into the exchange of adventures and knowledge they had shared before.

Ivan would have been bored if he hadn't occupied himself with training. Fine control was still his weakness and he used the opportunity to summon and control miniscule embers and sparks with just a twitch of his fingers.

Serving Kumari wasn't hard work or unpleasant and he started wondering how his life would have turned out if he had been bought by someone like her after his father had sold him into slavery. The likelihood that he would have accepted his fate and grown complacent with his lot was disturbingly high. Being a pet to his cruel Dracon relatives on Yaiciz was a terrible fate, but being a house slave on an estate like this wasn't so bad at all. 

He now understood much easier why the slaves who had been delivered here had been so calm and well adjusted. There really wasn't much to fight against, here. Maybe their life wasn't their own, but they were well cared for. Most of them even remained at one estate all their lives. In a way, their lives were easier than a commoner's, who would have to worry about how to make ends meet every day.

Ivan took another trip to the market to exchange information with Yaden, this time without Kumari and with a long list of purchases for her he was supposed to come home with. At that point, Yaden still hadn't discovered the N'Bosoti merchandise, but a few days later a stone with a message came hovering through Kumari's window late at night and dropped right into Ivan's lap. The nearly illegible scrawl, riddled with spelling mistakes, couldn't belong to anyone but Yaden. He had found the hidden cache and would now remain close to the estate so they could swiftly attack once the N'Bosoti made contact with the Earl the next time.

They were keeping a close eye on the Earl to make sure they didn't miss it when he would slipped away to the chapel to meet with his alien allies. 

Waiting like that would have driven him insane, but that had been before the Calarni. Among the many things he had learned in that time was patience.

The one thing that kept circling through his head was whether this time, they could win. The last direction confrontation with an N'Bosoti they had only survived because Colin had been there. So much had happened since then - meeting with Saint Cornelius and all the endless hours of training. They were so much stronger now, but would they be strong enough to kill an unkillable monster?

He should probably be at least a little scared, Ivan mused. It was late evening and he was sitting on his sleeping mat, mending a tear in his shirt. His meagre sewing skills were of course not enough to take care of a princess' wardrobe, but they were more than sufficient for simple slave garb. Fear would surely come when he faced the ancient menace that all N'Bosoti wore wrapped around themselves, but now all he could bring up was a quiet hunger for the confrontation to start.

Kumari had retired to bed about an hour ago, but Ivan was still wide awake. He considered sneaking out to take a walk, or maybe steal some leftovers from the kitchen, but then decided against it. He was sure that Yaden was watching the chapel itself, but he felt better knowing that he was close enough to the Earl to notice, should he depart at such a late hour.

He put his sewing kit away with a sigh. Sleep wouldn't come yet, but he could still lie down and rest, he thought, when suddenly all his senses tingled with alarm. The feeling of wrongness was so strong it made bile rise to his throat. To anyone else it would have been the urge to curl into a ball and pretend invisibility, but to Ivan it was a screech of warning.

Evil, strong and vile - and here. Right next door. In Kumari's bedroom.

He was on his feet without a second thought, his flame sabres flicking into existence and his power flaring violently, highly visible to Yaden who kept close taps on his energy levels.

It stood at the foot of the bed, looming, much too large even for a bedroom as airy as Kumari's. The mere sight of it made Ivan falter. It hadn't noticed him yet. He still had time to slink away and hide, to let someone else deal with a menace he had no way of fighting. The idea of challenging it was ludicrous. No one would blame him.

Then he caught sight of Kumari. She was in her bed, her back pressed against the headboard, her thin blanket clutched to her breast like a shield, her eyes impossibly large as she stared at the monster in mindless panic.

Ivan gritted his teeth and stepped fully into the room. "Hey roach!" He hissed. "Your death is over here!"

It turned slowly, leisurely, utterly convinced of its invincibility. Ivan shuddered as it blinked at him asymmetrically with its six red eyes. 

He forcefully reminded himself of what Saint Cornelius had told them. Look at it, study it, stop seeing the monster, notice details, turn it into just another monster. It wasn't really black, that was only the armour it was wearing, made of the same shiny material as all N'Bosoti artefacts. Its carapace was brownish with streaks of muddled green. There was something misshapen about its head, like it had come from a moult which had deformed in a great heat. It might be creature of legend, but it still was a creature.

Then he felt his knees go weak, as he heard it speak for the first time. A voice like silk and acid.

"We remember you, little human. You hindered our plans at Yaiciz." It cocked its head with frightening curiosity. "We are interested in you."

Such a simple statement and still it was the single most scary thing Ivan had ever heard.

"Yeah, isn't that fucking great?" He growled, hiding his fear behind bravado. "You know what I am interested in? The colour of your guts!"

He swirled his sabres, moving further into the room. As long as he had its attention, Kumari would be safe. 

It clicked in what Ivan interpreted as amusement. Then it lunged forward, stabbing at him with one of its sharp front legs. It clearly was only a gesture of threat and even though every single of Ivan's instincts screamed at him in outrage, he stood his ground and didn't dodge.

"Adorable." The N'Bosoti commented.

"Fuck you!" Ivan replied, maybe not very creatively. He was trying to stall, trying to buy time for Yaden to arrive.

The monster didn't oblige. It moved as quickly as a striking snake, this time attacking in earnest. Ivan only evaded the striking razor arms by a hair's breadth. He struck at it with his left sabre as he twisted out of the way, but the fire and force dissipated harmlessly. There was no time to concentrate to try something fancy, he was twisting and dodging as fast a he could as a storm of strikes fell against him.

This wasn't what he had hoped his next fight against an N'Bosoti would be. He wasn't crippled by panic, but at this rate, he would still die a gruesome death.

And then it suddenly stopped. One moment the monster's bladed arms were nearly cutting him in half and the next it froze in mid-strike. Looming large over Ivan, ridiculously it reminded him of a stuffed and mounted bear.

It was obviously as shocked as Ivan as its eyes went large and then narrowed to slits.

"Your ass is mine, bug." Yaden's calm voice said from Ivan's left.

He glanced over to find his friend standing there, still wearing his beggar garb but mostly cleaned up, now that he didn't have to go among people in the village anymore. His feet were planted firmly, his arms stretched in front of him and his fingers spread in what looked to Ivan like a puppeteer's gesture.

The N'Bosoti was straining visibly, but it didn't manage to move more than an inch. Ivan drew a deep breath and focused on the monster himself. He remembered how Yaden had taught him how to get a psionic grip on the Calarnis' infernal armour. The trick was simple really, his friend had explained. It's like looking at a cube from the top. You will only see a flat square which you can't pick up. But if you shift just a little, you will become aware of its dimensions and it will become possible. Ivan now tried to do the same thing with the N'Bosoti in front of him to get an angle for an attack, but his mind still kept slipping off.

"Impossible." The monster hissed, finally twisting his head around enough to glare at Yaden.

"Oh really?" Yaden actually smirked at the N'Bosoti.

Then its armour suddenly moved with a life of its own, wobbling for a second to then violently stab inward, puncturing the monster's carapace in countless places. It screeched in pain, a shrill note of something that should have never happened.

"Don't try, Ivan." Yaden said. "Just follow my grip."

Synergy effects were the thing their training was focused on nowadays. There were a million ways to combine their powers and they still had only scratched the surface. But one thing they were really good at was merging their energy and using each other's grip on different elements.

Ivan's tapped into Yaden's senses effortlessly and suddenly the alien metal of the N'Bosoti's armour was there, long, sharp spikes deeply imbedded in the monster through Yaden's will. With malicious glee Ivan grabbed onto those impromptu blades and channelled pure heat into them.

The creature's screech turned even higher and the stink of cooking alien meat filled the room as Ivan scorched the monster from within, its own armour turned against it a conduit of heat it couldn't escape.

Finally it slumped forward, very dead.

Released from Yaden's grip, it crumbled to the ground, now nothing but a very large, ugly, stinking bug, its aura of horror gone with its death.

Ivan moved closer to it and cautiously prodded it with his foot. Then he grinned at Yaden widely. "That was absolutely amazing!" He stated.

Yaden grinned back, looking just as excited. "Are you okay?" He then asked.

"Yeah." Ivan nodded. "Not even a hint of mana burn." He then added with a chuckle. "How did you get it? I still couldn't get a grip."

"Uh…" Yaden rubbed the back of his neck, looking slightly embarrassed. "I'd love to say it was sheer brilliance but actually… I used that cache of artefacts to practise. They were dormant so I had plenty of time."

Ivan was about to demand some artefact of his own for training when Kumari's shaky voice reminded him that he wasn't alone with Yaden. "Is it…? Did you…?" She had left the safe refuge of her bed but was still holding on to a bedpost, trembling.

"Dead." Ivan confirmed. "Entirely dead."

"Oh god!" Kumari exclaimed and then flung herself into Ivan's arms. Sobbing quietly, she clung to him like he was the only safe or sane thing in the whole universe.

Consoling people still wasn't his strongest skill, but he had gotten better over the years. He wrapped her in his arms and made soft, crooning noises to calm her at least a little.

Moments later the doors were thrown open as Earl Kamal and several guards rushed into the room. The death screech of the N'Bosoti must have been heard on the whole estate, Ivan mused. The Earl seemed to worry about his daughter enough to at least investigate. Not that this would save his traitorous ass.

Yaden immediately moved to intercept them. "I am Sir Yaden of the Phoenix Knights." He stated with that special authority Ivan always envied him for. "Earl Kamal Jehanni, I am placing you under arrest on charges of high treason and conspiring with enemies of humanity."

That sure was a mouthful, Ivan thought. The Earl was gaping at Yaden and the giant dead bug and his guards were joining right in.

"You will be teleported to the Imperial Palace for questioning." Yaden continued unfazed. 

He glanced at Ivan, who was still holding Kumari. She had recovered enough to peek out of his embrace, but made no move to let go yet.

"I am placing your daughter in charge of this estate until further notice." Yaden decided.

That finally seemed to snap the Earl out of his shock. He bared his teeth in an angry snarl. "You have no idea who you are messing with!" he hissed.

Yaden looked back at the stinking, smoking N'Bosoti carcass meaningfully. "I assure you we are well aware who you serve." He said.

Earl Kamal laughed. "Serve? Oh no, they serve us, you arrogant fool. Your days are numbered!"

His words sent icy fingers crawling up Ivan's spine, much too similar to what his sister Anita had said right before she was whisked away.

Yaden seemed entirely unimpressed. "I'm sure the IIS will be utterly delighted to listen to your drivel." He said.

He had barely finished when the Earl disappeared. Yaden had already contacted someone to port him away, Ivan realized. No point in arguing or giving his allies a chance to rescue him at the last moment.

Yaden turned back to Ivan. "Take the Lady Kumari to other quarters." He said, well aware that the princess was still stubbornly clinging to Ivan. "I have some specialists from the Tower incoming to secure the bug and the merchandise."

Ivan nodded and gently guided Kumari past the dead monster. When they were in the corridor outside the suite she finally breathed a little easier.

"It said it wanted me." She whispered and shuddered.

Ivan hugged her close again for a moment. "Don't worry." He told her. "I'll fry any number of them for you."


	6. Chapter 6

"Damn, I really would have loved to see that!" Colin sighed, forcefully digging his hands into the bread dough he was kneading.

Yaden smiled at his beloved husband from where he was sitting at the large kitchen table. He was mopping up the last of the left over garlic sauce from last night's dinner with some bread. "The R&D team has probably cut up the carcass by now, but I'm sure I can get you some high res pictures of it they took before."

Colin seemed sweet and kind most of the time, but he had a core of pure steel and when it came to the subject of N'Bosoti he was outright vengeful.

Now he looked back at Yaden over his shoulder. "Don't tempt me." He admonished. "I might want it blown up as a poster for our bedroom or something like that."

"Uh." Yaden scrunched his nose in disgust and shoved the dripping piece of bread into his mouth.

"So have they discovered anything useful then?" Colin asked. "Some sort of weakness? Anything we can use against those vermin?"

"Nuffin I'm 'ware of." Yaden answered with his mouth full and then swallowed. "Which isn't surprising." He continued. "Saint Cornelius was rather sure they don't have any weaknesses. After all they have spent millennia perfecting themselves."

Colin punched the dough. "But you did manage to grab its armour." He argued.

"I think I mostly managed to surprise it." Yaden said. He got up from his seat, went over to Colin and wrapped his arms around his lover's hips from behind. "It was actively fighting the grip I had on its armour. I'm pretty sure I can gain control of their artefacts now, but the next time I face one of them they will likely be prepared for me trying to attack them with their own armour. It will be much harder. Basically a battle of wills."

Colin leaned back into his embrace with a grim smile on his lips. "I guess you will have to want it dead more than it wants to survive then." He stated.

"As you command, my love." Yaden agreed and gently kissed Colin's throat. He kept his loose embrace as Colin continued kneading his dough. "At least the interrogation of Earl Kamal has turned up a few useful bits." He continued. "He spilled all of his contacts, everyone involved in this whole sordid conspiracy. He also revealed that he wasn't originally contacted by the bugs. From his description we are sure it was actually Anita who first showed up and offered him an alliance. That's why he still believes that they are using the N'Bosoti."

"Fucking moron." Colin grumbled. "You need to bring down that little bitch before she manages to do some serious damage." He grabbed a kitchen towel and spread it over the bowl with the dough. Then he turned around in Yaden's embrace. "Is it too harsh that I really want her head on a silver platter?" He asked, his chocolate brown eyes troubled.

Yaden shrugged. "You are more Dracon than I will ever be and even I want to rip her to shreds for hurting Ivan like she did. I can't find any fault in your desire to see her dead." He leaned forward and kissed a speck of flour from the tip of Colin's nose. "And you are a Youh'Kai priest. Those are all about bloody vengeance too."

Colin snorted and looked like he was going to argue, but then his eyes turned to the doorway behind Yaden instead.

"Uhm…" Ivan's voice said cautiously. "Am I interrupting something?"

"No, come right in." Colin said with a welcoming smile. "My dear husband is just his usual grabby self. If you are looking for leftovers I have to disappoint you, though. My dear husband is also his usual devouring self and has obliterated what was left of last night's dinner."

"Actually I was wondering if I could ask your advice." Ivan said.

He sounded so insecure that Yaden let go of his lover and turned around to face his friend and squire. Ivan was holding a sheaf of papers like they were the most precious thing in the universe. He also looked like they might bite him any moment.

"Uh, should I go…?" Colin asked, but Ivan immediately shook his head.

"No… I… both of your advice." He came in now and sat down at the kitchen table.

Yaden got three mugs from the cupboard and poured all of them tea from the large pot which always sat on its own little stove, while Colin collected some biscuits. Then they both sat opposite Ivan and Yaden couldn't help feeling like they were parents, helping out their troubled son. Ivan apparently thought the same as he gave them a skewed grin.

"So, what's up?" Colin asked calmly.

Ivan fiddled with his tea mug for a moment, but then he did what he always did, gathered his courage and plunged ahead. "Kumari has written to me." He explained, patting the sheaf of papers with his hand. "A really long letter. Just… stuff… what she has been doing to get the estate working again, how much she enjoys being allowed to make decisions… how the harvest has been going… I… I'm not sure why she is writing to me…"

"I had the impression she quite liked you." Yaden ventured cautiously.

They had stayed at the estate for almost a whole week after they had killed the N'Bosoti. To oversee the safe extraction of the N'Bosoti artefacts, make sure that Kumari's relatives accepted Yaden's ruling that she would run the estate until further notice and of course to protect the estate should other bugs show up.

Whenever Ivan and Kumari had been in the same room Yaden had been charmed by how easily they worked together. There were precious few people Ivan got along with and Yaden had been happy he might have found another one.

"But… that makes no sense." Ivan complained now, sounding genuinely unhappy. "What is the point of writing letters to me. I'm… look… I may be your squire, but I'm also still a slave. There can't ever be…"

"Oh…" Colin stated, as both he and Yaden understood. "You like her too…"

That Ivan blushed furiously was all the confirmation they needed. "Even if she wanted me… Her family would never permit… I'm sure they have already picked out who she will marry. And soon."

Yaden gently reached across the table and took his friend's hand. "Ivan, if you like each other, why would you not enjoy what time you may have together? I mean, I'm sure it would be a good idea if you visited occasionally… to make sure no bugs are sneaking around the estate, you know…?"

"And even if nothing happens between the two of you," Colin added, "I sure she would be grateful for a friend right now. And goddess knows you could use a few more friends, too."

Ivan ran his fingers over the letter in what could only be called a caress. "You really think…?"

"Yes, we really think." Yaden confirmed.

"Okay." Ivan shrugged and then picked up his tea mug and the letter. "I guess I better write back to her then, huh?" He asked with a small, hopeful smile and left them.

Yaden watched him go with a fond smile. Then he turned back to Colin. "Do you think it was wrong to encourage him?" He asked, not really thinking it was but seeking his lover's counsel.

"Absolutely not." Colin leaned closer and gently kissed his cheek. "Love always finds a way. How else could I have married a noble prince with demi-god like powers?"

"True." Yaden agreed. And like every time when he looked at his beloved husband he wondered at his incredible good fortune. "How else could I have won the love of a most wonderful man like you?"


End file.
